Mad as a Hatter
by GallifreyGryffindorGirl
Summary: Sometime after Clara and the Doctor part ways Clara wakes up to find the world suddenly enveloped in fairy tales Please review if you want a second chapter. Set after Dark Water but as if Last Christmas never happened of course.
1. Mad Tea-Party

_Alright everyone, I know I have not been active for the rest of my stories for a while - there's been a lot going on lately. For example my first terms worth of university work has been due in, and unfortunately I've had a bit of struggle with a unspecified learning difficulty (don't ask, they say its dyslexia then they sat its not) that has made writing a very difficult past time lately. Anyway, i need practice writing for my upcoming creative writing assignment and this has been playing around in my head for a while - I know everyone usually things of 12 as a wolf in fairy tales, but honestly I've kind of thought of the Doctor, all the Doctors, as a bit of a mad man (by his own deceleration too of course). _

_Depending on the reception of this first chapter I may or may not continue this._

**Mad Tea-Party**

The last thing Clara remembered was her students falling asleep. She wouldn't have been that surprised – she found Jane Eyre to be rather boring too if she was honest – except it was odd for an entire class of thirty odd students to fall asleep almost simultaneously. She didn't have long to dwell of the odd behavior however before her eyelids suddenly felt heavy and she smacked her head on the desk as she too passed out.

When she woke something felt… off. The classroom was empty for one thing, but that was not her main concern (after all her clock, which before falling asleep had been a plain clock but was no painted with a severely creepy smiley face) told her it was sometime after school hours, she wouldn't have been surprised if her class had left without waking her. They had been uncannily kind for the last few months since Danny's death, even if their kindness was not always the most helpful thing.

No it wasn't just the empty classroom that felt off, and it took her a surprising amount of time to realise the shadows cast through the window by trees of all sizes that had seemingly sprouted in the few hours she'd passed out. Clara's head started working overtime, wondering if this was because another solar flare was headed for earth like last time, when she noticed the lights fluttering in the trees. Tiny little flittering lights, she could see them through the window. And the mushrooms that grew where odd colours, the kind of mushrooms she'd seen in children's story books, and she wondered why it took her so long to realise some of the tree's weren't even the colour a tree (at least one from earth) where supposed to be. If there was anything that would startle even a former time traveller, it was a tree with a blue trunk and purple leaves.

Clara felt her hand twitch towards the phone on her desk and stopped herself. It wasn't the first time in recent weeks shed been tempted to call the Doctor, thought this was the first time she had a legitimate reason to call the Time Lord, usually she wanted to pick it up and confess that she had lied. She had always lied. She wanted to pour her heart out, tell the grey stick insect how much he meant to her, how much she missed him, how much she felt she needed him – more than the air she breathed – but something always stopped her. That little voice in her head that reminded her how happy he'd looked when he told her he'd found Gallifrey, how pleased he was to finally be going home. She stopped herself from calling him because she didn't want to be selfish. That old man and his box deserved their home at last, after so long torturously thinking he'd destroyed them all. He didn't need her weighing him down.

She took the phone and shoved it in her purse to limit any more temptations to ring him, and stood. Which was when she noticed her clothing had changed too. Her simple black skirt and shirt had vanished, replaced with a simple dress, blue as the sky, which reached down to her knees. She rushed to the women's room, nearly running into the door when it was slow to open, and quickly stood in front of the mirror. The dress wasn't the only thing that had changed – her makeup had been done (which was really confusing, because she'd stopped wearing makeup lately – she just hadn't had the heart to put it on these days) and her hair which had been left to its own devices these days had been ironed straight, a small portion of it pulled up and wrapped in a bow to match the dress.

There as something familiar about the entire outfit, and yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

However she did say to herself in the silent bathroom "If I find out some creep re-dressed me and did my hair and make-up while I was asleep heads are going to roll." And then she left, exiting the school and only hesitating a little when she realised London had been completely covered in forest – again – though this time it was much more… whimsical, with the floating lights and funny colours.

Clara walked for some time, having lost any ideas that this was a dream because a dream wouldn't let her feel the pain from a blister she'd gotten while running the night before, and feeling increasingly lost amongst the dark trees when she finally spotted someone else.

A young girl, no older than thirteen, skipping towards Clara. The child carried an old wicker basket in one hand, and over her simple jeans and shirt she wore a red hooded cloak. "Little red riding hood?" Clara mumbled with amusement – more shocked when the girl actually stopped to look at her.

"Yes?"

Clara couldn't help but look around. "I'm sorry I just thought it was funny – you look an awful lot like little red riding hood."

"I am little red riding hood" the girl frowned, confused.

Now it was Clara who frowned. "But… red riding hood is just a book character."

The child had now fully turned to look at Clara, still frowning she tipped her head to one side and regarded her carefully before she said "Did you hit your head when you fell down the rabbit hole?"

"Rabbit-?" realisation hit Clara like a ton of bricks and she nearly smacked herself for not realising before. "Oh! I'm… Alice? Alice in wonderland?"

Red riding hood was looking a little concerned for Clara's mental health, she turned back around to carry on her way but continued to look over her shoulder at Clara. "I should get going – my grandma needs these cakes – try to stay on the path Alice, there are wolves around… and maybe you should stay away from the mad hatter too. He's a bit grumpy today."

Red riding hood left Clara laughing to herself in the middle of what Clara now figured was an enchanted woods. Nothing less would have made sense. She was a little scared of what was going on and why, but Clara couldn't shake the sudden thrill she felt – a surge of adrenaline through her system she hadn't felt since she stopped travelling with the Doctor. "Curiouser and Curiouser" she quoted the book as she continued down the path with a little more haste than before, wanting to know what else she would find – though she kept red riding hoods warning in mind and didn't stray from the beaten path, especially after she saw several pairs of yellow eyes in the darkness of the tress.

Clara found that though she walked – and in some places ran – for what felt like hours her feet, despite the blisters, never seemed to get tired. She passed several more fairy tales as she walked, a young woman with inky black hair, pale skin and rosy red lips followed by seven small men surely had to be Snow white and her seven dwarfs (the fact they were playing poker just added absurdity to the mix). Clara even passed a few faces she recognised outside of fairy tales – she wasn't surprised to find Courtney woods dashing around an a huge white horse clad in shiny armour – she'd never pegged the headstrong girl to be a princess waiting for a knight to rescue her.

One thing was for sure, Clara had no idea what was going on but for once she rather liked it.

Eventually she started getting rather hungry, despite this fantasy world she was still reminded that she hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning. It had been a thing that last few months, she would forget her meals sometimes for entire days until the hunger clawed at her insides and reminded her to eat. She had gotten better in recent weeks, but she still forgot sometimes. She searched the path convinced that in a fairy-tale world there must have been some kind of fruit tree around – instead, just up ahead on the path she spotted a fluffy white rabbit.

Clara grinned at the rabbit as it stood on its hind legs, long ears pointed in her direction and its nose and whiskers twitching as it stared at her. "Oh my ears and whiskers!" Clara found herself quoting "How late it's getting!"

Almost as soon as she had said it the rabbit sprang into action – it hopped a few meters down the path, then turned and looked at her again, repeating its movements until Clara got the idea. She was Alice, and she was to follow the white rabbit.

"Alright" she picked up her pace to follow the fluffy creature "But if you try leading me down a rabbit hole, we're done."

The rabbit lead Clara to a clearing in the forest – if she had to guess she was sure the clearing was on the square just outside her apartment building. What was most odd to her was that the clearing was bathed in obvious sunshine, as though it was the middle off the day when it had clearly been late afternoon when she left the school and the rest of the forest was bathed in late twilight – but the clearing was like a little spot of warm summer all to itself.

There was a long table sitting in the centre – Clara stood cautiously and observed from behind a tree- with many mix matched chairs, from over stuffed armchairs to rickety wooden stools, and it was piled high with plates of cakes and teapots. The mad hatter's tea party if she ever did see it – but there was no one around except the hatter himself. He wasn't at all what she imaged when she was a child and read the book. Rather than multicolours he simply wore black slacks, a white button up shirt and a black waistcoat, paired with a black blazer like jacket that when standing would likely reach just above his knees. He slouched in a chair at the head of the table, his hand resting on the arm so he could lean his cheek on his fist. His face was hidden by a large top hat, pulled down low on his head.

Clara could've sworn there was something familiar about him. She jumped, apparently she'd been to intent on staring at the hatter to notice the little white rabbit brush up against her bare ankle. She knelt down – not taking her stare off the hatter, though he hadn't moved an inch, she picked up the rabbit a little clumsily. She hadn't handled rabbits since she was a little girl – they had always been a favourite pet of her mother, not her father who preferred dogs or cats.

And then the mad hatter man moved – and Clara's heart stopped, because just for a second she'd seen a flash of red lining on that jacket. But it couldn't…

"It can't be him" she mumbled, lifting the rabbit further into her arms as it wriggled a little, pressing her face to its soft snow white fur. "Think I should go check?"

The rabbit just stared dolefully back.

"If I'm to believe all this fairy tale stuff" she mumbled to herself "It shouldn't matter too much if I approach the mad hatter, because I'm supposed to be Alice…" she shrugged and looked at the rabbit again. "Right?"

Clara held the rabbit still as she stepped out from behind the tree into the sunlight of the glade – but the hatter didn't respond. Actually she was almost sure he was asleep. She approached cautiously, her footfalls barely heard on the softest grass she'd known, and yet even as she got closer she thought she saw familiar grey hair, and those boots certainly reminded her of the Doctors and though she hadn't spent much time looking – really, really she hadn't! – his hands looked familiar too.

She suddenly got a whimsical feel, putting the rabbit on the floor again and letting him hop away she moved around the hatters chair unseen – by now completely sure that he was asleep – until she was standing behind it. She happened to look up at that time and saw that without her noticing the table had begun to fill with children – a pair of boys who looked identical and where for some reason covered in smashed eggs, one girl could not stop grinning and a long tail curled behind her and comically large cats ears sprouted from her head, whilst the two girls sat beside her where furiously glaring away from each other one dressed entirely in red and the other in white. She recognised all the characters – and they recognised her, smiling lightly back at her.

The new audience did make Clara hesitate for just a second, but that was all. She leaned down, tapping on his right shoulder while she leaned her face onto the left. However maybe she should have been a bit more curious to the man's stillness because he did not move to check what had tapped his right shoulder the same way anyone else would – but rather his face stayed on the left, so when she leaned down he just whispered near directly into her ear "I feel I should not be surprised that you should be our Alice heading down the rabbit hole."

The voice was gravely, familiar and yet warmer than she had ever heard it before. It made her gasp, jumping back to stare, but still unable to see his face completely, Clara reached up and pulled the top hat up – revealing the Doctors face.

He did not smile, but he did not frown. He stared at her as she stared at him, apparently neither knowing quite what to say or do. As usual Clara was the first to move, she couldn't resist hugging him even if he hated them. She dove on him, glimpsing the startled expression before she nearly knocked them both out of the arm chair.

For his part the Doctor did his best to both catch her and steady them, one arm wrapping around her while the other grabbed for the table to stop the chair toppling over. Around the table the children giggled obviously finding their hug amusing. He grimaced, but found he was just as happy to see Clara as she obviously was to see him. In fact once he was sure they were not going to tip over in the chair, the Doctors arms both wrapped around Clara, one hand resting on her waist and the other between her shoulder blades as she buried her head in his neck and breathed in the scent that was him – like old books and something indescribable and yet old, if she had to guess what the other smell was she would label it as time and space itself.

"Are you crying?" the Doctor's voice sounded startled, he pulled her away from him just a little so he could see her face, those large wide brown eyes wider than he'd ever seen them before – or maybe they were just magnified by tears. "What's wrong? Are you sad? Are you hurt?"

Clara giggled wetly, wiping at her face "No, no I'm happy. These are happy tears. I'm… just so glad to see you again. I can't believe it."

The Doctor snorted "You can believe that I am here but you can believe you've been sucked into a fairy-tale London?"

She punched him lightly and sniffed, but smiled. "Don't ruin the moment Doctor."

He still looked confused "I'm not sure what moment this is, but fine."

She nearly tried to explain the 'moment' but decided against it. The Doctor struggled with happy crying, best not to confuse him anymore. Maybe it would be healthier for him to figure it out himself anyway.

"Can we start our tea party now?" the two boys looking like Tweedledum and Tweedledee asked in union, causing laughter across the table.

"What do you say, _Alice_?" the Doctor looked at Clara.

Clara looked down at him, looking daft in the over large top hat – she was actually tempted to tell him to wear it always though knew he'd find the suggestion ludicrous – and looked out at the expectant faces of the children. "I'd started with eating the cake first" she grinned, watching as the children nearly pounced upon the many piles of sweet treats.

After watching them for a few minutes, in which Clara realised she was sitting surprisingly comfortably on the Doctors lap and that he was holding her against him rather than pushing her off, she turned to ask him "So what is going on Doctor?"

"What do you think is going on?" he countered, hooking one of those usually frowning eyebrows at her in a way that let her know he was testing her.

"I think I'm dreaming." She answered honestly.

He sighed "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."

Clara smiled and lightly slapped his chest. "That wasn't even Lewis Carroll – that was Poe!"

The Doctor smiled too, a rare expression that completely changed his face. "Nice job teach. But yes you were right, almost. This is a kind of dream – but the entire world is having the same dream right now, obviously including me. And it's all thanks to these delightful children." He waved towards the kids eating cake.

Clara frowned "But _why?_"

The Doctor shrugged "These kids helped me with a problematic alien nanny that had infiltrated their school and was eating the teachers. They said I had to owe them something – since when had children gotten so good at racking up debt? Anyway I had the TARDIS project a sort of fantasy dream world that the children created so that for a few hours the world is like this. In the morning the human population shall wake up with little to no memory of this, save for those who are aware that something has changed – like you, me and these children."

Clara grinned – she was going to say it was such a nice thing for him to do, instead her mouth chose to ask "Wait, how many times did I help you with an alien and you didn't give me anything?"

He scoffed "I consider your help a penance for your vague answer of 'show me something amazing' every time I asked for a destination."

"You did show me amazing things though…" she reminded him softly.

There was a silence between them for a few seconds, before the Doctor went suddenly rigid beneath her. "So, where is Danny – what did he become? Your daring white knight?"

Clara stiffened too, her mouth opened and shut several times nearly spilling lies again – but when she finally spoke, she was thankful to realise it was the truth. "Danny never came back."

"What!" the Doctors exclamation attracted the attention of the children – who he and Clara waved away, waiting until their attention was back on the food before he asked in a quieter voice "What do you mean he never came back? You said he did – I saw the bracelet!"

Clara sighed, looking away from him, but she didn't get up from his lap – she wasn't sure he would let her. At her confession his grip had gotten tighter by just a fraction. "Danny sent back a child he accidentally killed in the war instead of coming back himself. I just told you he came back because you'd found Gallifrey and I didn't want you to hang around just for me…"

The Doctor said nothing, processing this information – his respect for soldier boy going up even more. Finally he sighed softly. "I never found Gallifrey – I said that so you would stay with Danny, I didn't want you to feel like you owed this old man anything."

After a few minutes of silence between them – broken by the children's laughter and shouting and happy eating – Clara laughed suddenly. She caught the Doctors stunned expression. "I'm sorry, but I haven't laughed like this in a while" she said around the laughter, her breath gasping between words "I just… I can't think of another reaction. I guess in a situation like this – all you can do is laugh!"

This got the Doctor chuckling as if he agreed, until he was finally laughing too.

When she had calmed down enough, Clara looked at him seriously. "I missed you, you idiot."

He looked away from her shyly, muttering softly "I missed you too… pudding brain."

She smirked "It's not the same running without having you yelling that I'm a pudding brain or having some kind of monster chasing me."

He smirked back at her. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You have no idea how many times I nearly rang you – just wondering if you'd actually answer."

"Why?" his focus suddenly laser like on her, eyes nearly boring into her soul.

"I…uh…" his focus had her faltering slightly.

"Clara…" he frowned.

"I missed you." She confessed again. "I guess… I wanted to see if you'd… well, if you'd show me something amazing again."

There was no reply for a few seconds, until finally the Doctor's face broke into a wide smile – one that actually showed his teeth, which was such an uncommon sight it startled her a little. "I'd be happy to show you something amazing Clara, the entire universe is full of amazing things, but I need you to do me one thing first…"

"Doctor?" she looked at him suspiciously.

He smirked, reaching up he pressed a finger to her head, directly between her eyes. "_Wake up_."


	2. Prove It

_Okay so people reviewed and did want a second chapter so here it is - there will be more but don't ask how quick I can get them out, this will have to be written around my coursework but I'll try get the chapters finished out out quick as I can. Be warned - there will probably be a lot more Poe quotes. _

**Prove It **

Clara startled awake, surrounded by her familiar fluffy pillows and blankets and was greeted by the sight of the white cracked paint on her ceiling. She really needed to get around to painting that. She lay back on her pillow and wondered…

She was inclined to believe that what had just transpired in a fantasy forest was just a cruel dream her own mind had created. It had happened before, she dreamed that she found the Doctor again, but it had never been as elaborate as that before… she looked around her bedroom for anything that could prove to her that it wasn't just a dream but found nothing. Though she did not remember getting home or going to bed the night before, so maybe that was something in itself.

She couldn't be too mad with herself if it was a dream. It had been the most fun – even unconscious fun – she'd had in months. And Alice in Wonderland had always been a favourite of hers, in fact she had just reread the book as well as Through the Looking Glass last month. Maybe that was why she had that dream. Though, as she thought about it, she realised that the Doctor would make a very good mad hatter. He as certainly mad enough. She wondered if he'd ever met Lewis Carroll because she could easily see him being the inspiration behind the character.

Clara's phone on the side table began to ring and vibrate – she caught it just as the violent vibrations caused it to slide off the edge of the table. Who thought it was a good idea to give phones such strong vibrations? She answered, happily noting that her voice didn't betray that she had only just woken up at 11am on a Saturday rather than her usual 9:30am.

"Hey gran." She greeted.

"Clara!" her grandmother sounded excited for some reason. "I just had the most hilarious dream, I had to tell someone about it. I was in one of those Arabic castles and I met a genie, oh I it was such a fun dream Clara!"

Clara chuckled – it didn't take a lot to excite her gran, the older the woman got the crazier she wanted to act. "You met a genie? Did you get your three wishes?" she asked as she got out of bed, moving to her kitchen to put the kettle on for her morning tea.

"Of course!" her gran said as if Clara's question was dumb. "It was easier to decide than I thought it would be actually, I guess when you get old like me you don't really want too much else from life. Anyway, I wished for my favourite-"

"-Let me guess, chocolate?"

"-of course!" her gran laughed "Oh it was such a fun dream Clara."

The kettle finished boiling just as there was a knock on Clara's door. She moved to answer it while asking "What else did you wish for?"

As she was searching for the door key her gran answered "Well after chocolate I couldn't really think of much else, so I wished I was in Hawaii and that your grandfather was with me one last time, god rest his soul."

"That's really sweet gran" Clara smiled tenderly, though no one could see, as she finally unlocked the door and removed the chain to open it.

Clara did not hear what else her gran said, too stunned and overjoyed when she opened her door and found the Doctor leaning on the wall opposite her door, her arms crossed over his chest, he had a small smile on his face as he looked at her from underneath the top hat he was still wearing – though Clara now noticed the hat was rather battered, with a TARDIS blue ribbon wrapped around it and feathers that looked like peacock tail feathers and yet she had the feeling they were from a different, and probably alien, bird. She smiled back at him, stepping inside to invite him in as she said to her gran "Gran, sorry but I'm going to have to call you back" and then knowing her gran would ask for an explanation she decided to say "The man is here about the leak in my roof."

"Oh your finally getting that fixed?" her gran asked "Well okay, I'll talk to you later Clara. Love you."

"Love you too Gran." She mumbled, hanging up the phone as the Doctor brushed past her into the apartment – his brows had raised when she said he was the man to fix her roof.

"Fix a leak?" he asked.

"I couldn't very well say the Doctor was here now could I?" Clara frowned as she shut her front door again. "My gran would either be convinced I was sick, or she'd remember you as the naked boyfriend I brought to Christmas dinner."

He had the grace to blush, though he looked irritated. "Yes well. I assure you that _I _would never forget that other humans could not see holographic clothes."

Clara chuckled, going to the kitchen to finish making tea and he followed her. "Why bother remembering? It's not like you make a habit of wearing holographic clothes is it?"

He just raised his eyebrows as he leaned on the kitchen counter and watched her.

Her eyebrows raised too, in surprise and disbelief. "_Do_ you? Oh my god do you just wander around naked in holographic clothes?"

His face remained carefully blank as he said "I could be wearing holographic clothes right now. You wouldn't know. Would it be a problem?"

Clara felt a blush creep up her neck and new her face and the tips of her ears would be bright crimson. She was so startled by his upfront question – normally he would has laughed in her face or made some angry remark – that she said nothing, having to look away from his suddenly heated gaze and focusing on the tea.

She swore she heard him chuckle, but it might have been the birds outside her windows.

She decided to change the topic. "You know I was convinced I dreamed everything when I woke up. You really shouldn't just prod people and tell them to wake up."

He frowned as she handed him the cup of tea. "Why?"

"Because that's what they do in the movies, and when you wake up you have no idea if it was real or not – it's very confusing."

He was still frowning, though this time he seemed to have a rather interested expression "These movies sound interesting."

She waved a hand at him "Eh, not really. They're usually fantasy romances or something like that. Not your cup of tea."

"How would you know what my cup of tea is?"

"I know you. I highly doubt you'd sit through a romance film without disputing _something_. Or any movie for that matter."

He made an agreeing noise, but his expression was serious. "Yes well Clara, I am over two thousand years old. I know more about romance and things than any human director could ever."

"That's quite a serious claim" she frowned at him. "But or someone who believes that you often act clueless."

He looked amused "Oh, you think?"

Uncertainty logged in her brain as she considered him then – she hated that on this face she couldn't not read his expressions. His other self had been like an open book, but this face was concealed. He didn't let her past those carefully raised guards of his, she was unable to ever figure out what he was thinking. Then something popped into her head, remember what he quoted in the fantasy Alice in wonderland world, she met his gaze and narrowed her eyes wondering what his reaction would be.

"Years of love have been forgot, in the hatred of a minute." She quoted Poe – and watched as his carefully blank expression fell into one that was stunned, and then a slow smile graced his lips.

"There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of man." He quoted right back to her, the Scottish lilt of his tongue wrapping around the words in a way she had never heard before – her heart practically sang to hear it though she had no real clue what he meant with the words.

"I know that was Poe too, but I don't know what you mean. Are you referring to yourself as the cat or what?" She asked, hiding her lips with the rim of her cup as she prepared to take a sip of her tea.

The Doctor just shrugged, a noncommittal answer and said instead "I still contend that I had a far greater knowledge on romance and the such."

"Prove it" the words slipped out of Clara's mouth as if it had a life of its own. Her expression turned stunned and horrified as the Doctor looked up from his cup to stare at her with a carefully calculated and stunned expression. For a few minutes there was nothing said between them, Clara swore her heart pounded so loud he could hear it across the kitchen. "Wait – sorry – I didn't mean…"

"Okay." He cut across her words – though his expression hadn't changed much.

"What?" she frowned, not daring to believe her ears.

"Okay. I'll prove it. If you're_ sure_ you want me too." His stare turned challenging – and she nearly scowled at him because he knew her just as well as she knew him. He knew she wouldn't back down from a challenge so blatantly given. For once though he was keeping his expression readable to her as if he knew that being able to decipher his emotions was making this less, well, nerve wracking for her. His expression was a careful balance between challenging, puzzling and interest – though the interest was not the same expression that he gave his chalkboards when he was solving an equation. It was different, one she'd not seen on this face before.

"Alright then – you have yourself a… a slightly strange deal." She said carefully. She wasn't completely sure but she had the idea she might have just agreed to go on a date with the Doctor – not that she was going to ask outright. She remembered him as the man who was quite afraid of her getting too close to his emotions – she didn't want to scar him away by asking upfront after being apart for so many months. She was still a little shell shocked that he was here at all – she had a feeling it might hit her later and she would have a little break down (but a happy one) and hoped by that time she was alone.

The Doctor suddenly put down his cup, stepping across the kitchen – which for his long legs did take just a single step – until he was standing toe to toe with her. If she wasn't leaning back on the counter her front would have been pressed against his, a realisation that made her tempted to stand straight so that they were touching. He brought a hand up, his expression suddenly soft and calm like she'd not seen it before (except for that one time he fell asleep in the console room) and he reached up, brushing some strands of her hair out of her face. "Are you sure, Clara?" he asked, his voice just as soft as his expression. "Because you really should be sure before asking a, well, someone like me to 'prove it'."

Clara did consider it – but if anything the months of pining for the Doctor had just proved to her more that she loved him. Maybe she always had. She knew each of her echo's that had been in his time stream, that had saved him, had each loved his many faces differently – was it so strange that she would love him too? If anything her feelings previously had made her feel guilty, how could she love both Danny and the Doctor? She had though, maybe she had loved the Doctor more than Danny or the other way around – it was hard to tell – and though she knew she'd always keep Danny in her heart (it was hard to not) she wanted this chance with the Doctor.

"Yes. I'm sure." She said, her voice clear and confident.

He gave a small smile then, leaning in just slighting Clara wondered if he was about to kiss her – but he stepped away instead grabbing his cup back up off the counter as he smirked. "In good time then. Now I'm pretty sure you should get out of those pajamas – we have _amazing_ things to see."

Clara was torn between throwing her cup at him and laughing. Instead she crossed the kitchen, having to stand on her tip toes but managing to swipe the top hat off the Doctors head. "Alright, fine. But I'm taking your hat - _hatter._"


End file.
